Knockdown corner cabinet



Jam 30, 1945- H. c. BULLARD 2,368,284

KNOCK-DOWN CORNER CABINET Filed June 24, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig'z 5 M www' Wwf' 'WIM' M Inlml "www "WN" www uw BY y z Jan. 30, 1945. H. c. BULLARD 2,368,284

KNOCK-DOWN CORNER CABINET Filed June 24, 1942 4 Shets-Sheet 2 Jan, 30, 1945. H, c. BULLARD KNOCK-DOWN CORNER CABINET 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 24, 1942 `Ham. 30, 1.945. H. C. BULLARD KNOCK-DOWN CORNER CABINET Filed June 24, 1942 4 Sheets-*Sheet 4 hrw if Il I I l l I l i n i l d) INVENTOR. B',

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Patented Jan. 30, 1945 Application June 24, 1942, SerialjNo. 448,222

y(.Cl. S12-142) `3 Claims.

This invention relates to Aknock-down woodeny china closets of the type designed to fit into the corner of a room.

It aims to devise an article of this character which can be erected quickly by following very simple directions and with the aid of only the simplest tools, can be easily dismantled and moved to another location and which, when dismantled, can be disposed in a compact form suitable for shipment.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.l

In the drawings,

Figure 1 isa front elevation of a cabinet constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a Vertical, sectional view approximately on the line 2 2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an angular rear view of the front or front section of lghecabinet, the plane of section being `taken just above the counter rail;

Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional, View on the line '5w-5, Fig. l; t

Fig. 6 shows part at the right-hand bottom corner of the portion of the cabinet shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation-of a part of the rear upright;

' Fig. 8 is an angular view of one of the shelves; and

Fig. 9 is a plan View of the cabinet showing Ait positioned in the corner of a room.

Referring first to Figs. l to 4, inclusive, the 'construction there shown comprises two lateral front uprights 2 and 3 which may, for convenience, be referred to as pilasters These members are connected by cross pieces consistving of a threshold 4, a counter Yrail 5, and a -pediment 6. 4The pilasters may each be made from a single board or lplank of suitable thickness, or they may be built up as may best suit the manufacturing requirements of vindividual designs, and the rear surfaces of each of these members are slotted, as indicated at l, to receive the front corners of a series of shelves 8. Preferably each shelf is made of plywood, as best shown in Fig. 8, has approximately the shape of an `isosceles triangle with a stifening rib I0 of plywood'secured to it by staples, or -other suitable inforcing or finish strip II at its forward edge which also may-be stapled toit. lUsually the forward edge of this reinforcing piece I I will be grooved or otherwise ornamented, this Ypiece ordinarily consisting of a short section of molding. Also, as shown in Fig. 8,-the edge II of the shelf 8 is inset with referencetotheends a-a or, in other words, the latter parts project forwardly by a vsuilicient distance `to vbottom in the slots l-l in the pilasters 2 -and3. -This fis true as to all of the shelves except'the topmost one v8', the

`ends oi which vrest on,the upper ends of the pilasters, as best'shown in Fig. 2. The rearward ends or corners of'all the shelves, except that at the top of the cabinet, vfit into slots formed inY a rear or corner upright I2, Fig. 5, and these corners are secured to said upright by rscrews driven diagonally through portions of the Vshelves and into the upright. The front edges or corners of theshelves are similarly secured to the pilasters by screws driven in like manner. through the shelves and into the parts 2'and 3. At all of these points an interlocking engagement is provided which holds the partsaccurately in their proper relationship tofeach other and against movement in three directions so that all that the screw associated with each joint lhas to do is to pull the parts of lthat joint into their interlocking relationship to each other, and hold them there. This construction `thus `makes -a very stiff, sturdy assembly, even Without any gside covering for the rearwardly extending edges of the shelves, although such covering can be used, yif desired. Preferably the rear upright I2 -is notched or slotted at its forward Aside `to receive both the straight rear edge of each shelf and also to receive the reinforcing rib I0. Such a notch construction is shown at b in Fig. 7. At this corner the shelf is interlocked with the upright against movement relatively thereto in all directions except a forward direction.

The counter'raillthe threshold 4, and the cross -rail a of the pediment are screwed to the pilasters and either these-parts or the pilasters themselves, or both, are notched to provide a strong secu-re joint. They divide the opening at the face of Ithe closet into upper and ,lower sections, the former being here shown Vas fitted with a hinged sash I3 and the latter with'a door I4.

In making this cabinet all of the manufacturing operations arev performed at the Vmill on the pilasters, threshold, counterrail, fpediment, rear upright and the shelves, and such assembling as maybe required of jparts 'of these units is there tfastenings, and isprovided -wth an angular reperformed, lso that wheny 'these vunits are ready readily be done because of the fact that all of for shipment they may, at times thereafter, be readily assembled or erected into a complete structure.

The parts of the front section are so designed that erection is facilitated by first securing the counterrail to the two pilasters 2 and 3, as best illustrated in'V Figs. 3 and 4. It will be observed that this rail has an ornamental nose piece c secured to it and cooperating with it to provide slots at its opposite ends, into which the adjacent edges of the pilasters fit. The latter are drilled to receive two screws I5-I5, Figs. 3 and 4. Also, the rearward part of the counterrail fits into notches provided in the pilasters by cutting away the edge reinforcing strip IE. Thus these parts have an interlocking connection with each other and the counterrail and threshold space the pilasters properly, when the parts are secured together, for the location of the pediment and the driving of the screws which hold it in place.

Next the threshold 4 preferably is placed in position with its ends in the notches formed toreceive it at the lower ends of the pilasters. Also, as shown in Fig. 6, the threshold is provided with a notch or cut-out I'I to receive the lower lefthand corner portion of the base block Ill when the end of the threshold is properly butted against the back surface of said base block. The same construction is provided at the opposite end of the threshold so that both corners of the threshold are interlocked with the pilasters and are secured thereto by' vertical screws 2l, the heads of which are received in a groove 22, Figs. 5 and 6, formed in the bottom of the threshold.

When these parts have been connected together, they secure the pilasters in parallel relationship so that the pediment may then be easily set accurately in place and secured by the screws 23. Preferably, also, the rear surface of the pediment is grooved near its opposite ends, as shown at 24, and drilled to receive the screws 25 which hold the top shelf 8 in its operative position. The forward projecting edges of this shelf extend into slots formed by spacing the upper ends of Ithe pilasters 2 and 3 from the lower end of the pediment 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Next the shelves are inserted in the slots of the pilasters, are secured there by the screws, as above described, and the rear corners of the shelves are then similarly set into the slots in the rear upright I2 and screwed to them. The doors I3 and I4 may then be hung.

This completes the assembly of the essential parts of the cabinet, but it is usually preferable to secure strips of edge beading 26-26, Figs. 1 and 4, to the grooved edges of the pilasters where they will fill the crack that otherwise would be left between these outside edges and the wall when the cabinet is set into place. This operation, however, is customarily performed on the job or site. Note that an ornamental groove cut in edge beading 26-26 makes it easy to drive nails at same angle as wall line.

It may here be noted that the molding strips on certain of the shelves act as stops for the sash I3, one of these shelves being so positioned that the molding lI engages the lower inside margin of the frame of the sash along the area d, Fig. 5, just above the counterrail 5. Also, that this rail preferably is rabbeted, as shown in Fig. 5, to act as a step for the upper margin of the inet, either for removal or shipment, that can the parts which must be separated are secured together by screws. It will also be noted that all of these screws are of the same size so that any confusion which otherwise might be caused by different sizes of screws is avoided.

In an article of this character, particularly when the shelves are supported only by their corners, there is much likelihood of these parts becoming warped or sprung. Any substantial trouble from this source, however, is avoided in the construction shown by making the shelves of plywood and reinforcing them by the pieces I0 and II, Figs. 8 and 9, located at right angles to each other.

A typical method of securing the cabinet in its operative position in the corner of a room is illustrated in Fig. 9 where the meeting walls of the room are shown in cross-section at 21. Two long wood screws, one of which is shown in Fig. 9 at 28, may be inserted through holes 30--3, Fig. 5, in the rear upright I2 and driven into the studding, some part of which usually is located at the corner of a room.

The invention thus provides a knock-down type of corner cabinet which can readily be assembled into a sturdy and substantial structure with no other tools than a screw-driver and possibly a hammer to tap the shelves into their slots if they t rather tightly. The construction lends itself to various types of ornamentation suited to go with furniture of different designs, and to finishing operations which may either be performed in the mill or by the ultimate purchaser, as circumstances may require.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be evident that minor variations may be made in it without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what l desire to claim as new is:

l. A knock-down corner cabinet consisting essentially of a front section including two pilasters at opposite sides thereof, a plurality of triangular shelves and a rear corner upright; the rearward surfaces of said pilasters having slots formed therein extending horizontally from approximately the outer edges of the pilasters to points spaced from their inner edges, each of said shelves having tongues extending forward from the opposite end portions of its front edge, each shelf having a recess extending along its front portion between said tongues and the tongues fitting into said slots, the forward surface of said rear corner upright being slotted horizontally to receive the rear corners of said shelves, said slots in the pilasters and the portions of the shelves fitting into them forming joints constructed to hold the shelves against lateral movement relatively to said front section, and fastenings securing said tongues and the rear corners of the shelves in the slots in said pilasters and in said upright, respectively, so that said shelvesI said tongues, said front section and said upright form, without the aid of other parts, a rigid self-sustaining structure.

2. A knock-down corner cabinet according to preceding claim l, in which said front section is itself of knock-down construction and comprises said pilasters, a threshold, a counterrail, and a pediment, said threshold and said counterrail having end portions shaped to cooperate with complemental parts of said pilasters to form interlocking joints with the latter and to space the pilasters apart by a predetermined distance suited to the requirements of the -pediinent, said joint sections being drilled to receive screws for drawing the parts of thejoints securely into interlocking relationship, and the upper ends of said pilasters and said pediment being drilled to receive additional screws for securing these parts together.

3. A knock-down corner cabinet according to preceding cla-im 1, in which said front section is itself of knock-down construction and comprises said pilasters, and transverse members connecting them, including a pediment, a threshold and a counterrail secured, respectively, to the tops, bottoms and middle portions of the pilasters, and

dividing the space between said pilasters into upper and lower sections, a sash to t in one of said sections and a door to t in the other, two

' other.

HAROLD c. BULLARD. 

